Traver Gruen-Kennedy, 12/27/99

The 25 most powerful people in networking

Traver Gruen-Kennedy, chairman,
ASP Consortium

T. Gruen-Kennedy

If the pundits are correct, application outsourcing will be a multibillion-dollar industry in a short period of time. If that happens, we can give thanks to Traver Gruen-Kennedy.

Since opening up shop in June, the ASP Consortium boasts 60 member companies, including AT&T, Cisco, Citrix (Gruen-Kennedy is director of advanced business development there), Lucent, Sprint, Sun and UUNET. The group's goals are to educate the industry, sponsor research and foster standards.

For instance, the consortium will develop "guidelines for standards," Gruen-Kennedy says. The standards will help in the certification of application services by third-party companies such as Ernst & Young, one of the consortium's founding members. The standards also will outline how application services should be secured, delivered and managed.

Orchestrating this type of activity among 60-odd companies - each looking to protect its own interests and further its own agenda while cooperating with rivals for the good of the industry - is no small feat. That's where Gruen-Kennedy comes in.

His charge will be to put into practice what the ASP Consortium Web site puts in words: to foster a group effort that will benefit the members by helping the industry grow more rapidly and gain additional prestige with customers.

Members will require a guarantee that they will not have to disclose proprietary information as part of their consortium activity. Indeed, Gruen-Kennedy must market participation in the ASP Consortium as an opportunity for companies to learn about the market and, in turn, educate the world.

If users are ever confident enough to off-load their application hosting to a service provider, it will be because Gruen-Kennedy was instrumental at getting these 60 companies to sing from the same songbook.

On the other hand, if the ASP Consortium goes down in flames due to vendor squabbling or protective paranoia, it has the potential to bring the whole ASP industry - and Gruen-Kennedy - down with it.

It's Gruen-Kennedy's job to keep that squabbling to a minimum while providing evidence of ASP Consortium progress, and educating the market on the benefits of application service providers. Gruen-Kennedy could hold the power that makes or breaks the ASP industry.

Related links

ASP attack
It'll take all your wits to pick the right application service provider for your needs. Network World, 09/27/99

ASPs up the ante in the blame game
Network World, 08/23/99

ASP group gets down to business
Network World, 07/30/99

ASP Consortium grows, but key players still absent from roll call
Network World, 06/28/99

Interactive power-o-meter

Profiles in Power

Profiles in Power

Power Struggles

Power Sign-off

The Signature Series

Home
Contact us
Site Map
Today's news
This week in NW
Research

Free newsletters
Forums
Opinions
Careers
Terms of Service
Network World, Inc.

Seminars & Events
Advertiser Index
Product Showcase
Vendor white papers
NW Subscriptions

Copyright, 1995-2001 Network World, Inc. All rights reserved.